Gala Celebrates Nonprofit Group Devoted to South Africa

Members of the choir Thokoza perform during the Shared Interest gala at Gotham Hall in Manhattan Thursday.

Claudio Papapietro for The Wall Street Journal

By Neanda Salvaterra

The ties that bind New York and South Africa were on display when Archbishop Desmond Tutu received an award Thursday at a non-profit gala reception at Gotham Hall in Midtown.

The event–which drew attendees such as former Mayor David Dinkins and Anant Singh, the producer of the movie “Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom”– was a 20th anniversary fundraiser for Shared Interest, a New York-based social investment fund that underwrites loans for poor South Africans.

Many of the organizers, like Executive Director Donna Katzin and Board Chair Timothy Smith, were active in the struggle against apartheid , a system of racial segregation that ended in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

“Mr. Tutu had called for us to apply pressure and sanctions on South Africa in the earlier days, and now he was calling for us to invest to be part of the process for change,” said Mr. Smith.

The organization has deployed $ 16 million to support agriculture, housing and micro lending and has touched the lives of an estimated 2 million people, according to Mr. Smith.

Its patrons, many of which earn a modest 2-3 percent return on their investments, are faith based organizations like Riverside Church in New York and the pension division for the United Methodist Church. The organizers hoped to raise $20 000 through donations and a silent auction.

About 500 guests ate beef in a bed of carrots and watched ballet performances by the Dance Theater of Harlem.

The candle- lit rotunda of Gotham Hall saw a parade of awardees that included the South African Ambassador to Washington Ebrahim Rasool and his wife, Rosieda Shabodien.

Mr. Rasool commended the work of Shared Interest with the words, “ South Africa will never be free until people have access to services like health and education.”

Later, guests listened to Mr. Tutu, as the 82-year old Nobel Peace Prize winner, received a lifetime of leadership award and thanked U.S. activists for their help in the struggle to end apartheid.

“The reason Madiba did not die in prison is you,” said Mr. Tutu, in reference to the campaign to free Nelson Mandela. “Do you know you did an extraordinary thing? … You helped change the moral climate of this country.”

He was joined on stage by his daughter, the Rev. Mpho Tutu, who co-authored a book with her father, which will be released in March.

The event was packed with people who were affiliated with the movement. Decked out in a pin-striped suit, Mr. Dinkins was a natural because of his activism.

“ I had the privilege while being mayor of the city of New York to impose sanctions”, he said. “The sanctions were not to do business with corporations that were doing business in South Africa. That simple,“ said Mr. Dinkins, who went on to host Mr. Mandela at Gracie Mansion.

Another person who met Mr. Mandela was awardee and movie producer Anant Singh, who was serene amid the buzz of Sunday’s Academy Awards. “We would love to win but I don’t want to be speculative. We will take whatever we get. It’s a huge honor to be acknowledged with a nomination, so we are keeping our fingers crossed and heading to L.A .tomorrow,” he said.